TinaHE, all true, that is the situation. I think OpenLibrary was meant to be the social media solution for Internet Archive, but most still use this site primarily it seems like. Wouldn't it be cool if the metadata could be sync'd between the two sites in some way, so that searching on Internet Archive will also find info entered on Open Library.Stephen

I even code a number to allow recalling all of the author's works. I am sure there are people out there who would like to do such cataloging. However I am more concerned about getting the material up as fast as possible and with the most information (Image resolution or recording quality) as is possible. There also could be a page which describes how to do this better, I even notice that some of the more professionally done stuff has much to be desired so it is not just the novices. These are volunteers and we should be gratefully for any work done to date. I think given the circumstances which many of us are forced to work under due to rampant government corruption and the multiplication of parasitic citizens approaching exponential proportions; it is a wonder that the Archive collection has turned out so well.

Yes Stephen, LOL yup I come here to Archive first, OpenLibrary second. It would make sense to sync Internet Archive and Open Library wouldn't it?

Gerry, Access to one or more relevant fields would be nice. I suppose there can be spammer problems with open access, sigh. Although adding another field means adding a new field to the database, there could also be an option for 'Open Edit' where users could add information, while preserving the fields as created by the originating uploader.And I agree this Archive site is nearly miraculous in our current societal/political/technological environment.

Adequate and accurate descriptions are necessary for efficient searches by users. That is the objective. I wonder how this could be better achieved. I do think the rapid results for the search engine here is extraordinary - so I am grateful that it works as well as it does.

Hi Gerry, I'm gonna derail this thread a bit as I saw your link and read with interest the Copyright disclaimer on the sound recording. I've been recently involved in the Wikicommons policy discussions on how to handle pre-1972 sound recordings at Commons. The legal aspect of sound recordings is extremely complex, there are arcane but fascinating papers on the topic published by the Library of Congress. It still remains unresolved but the Wikimedia legal department recently gave an opinion, which is unfortunately conservative, meaning we will probably need to remove all the commercial sound recordings (unless there is a clear release by the rights holder but most/all are orphans of course). Internet Archive is more liberal (and libertarian with a small l), in the sense anyone can devise a legal argument for using something. If you're interested I'll provide the Wiki links for arguments on this issue. Stephen

Yes I would like to see the information which you have. I have done quite a bit of work on this topic and am aware of most of the arguments pro and con. (They incidentally often can be found to be 'straw-men' arguments conceived by people who have ulterior motives. To my knowledge almost all state statutes relating to copyrights have exceptions for noncommercial use. Yes the law is complicated and this also means that the sword cuts both ways. I am 'very' sure that Gene Autrey's estate could never prevail against me on the record which I will be posting later today. This is because these compilations recognized that no copyright existed on this stuff and in most cases never had any transfer of rights associated with their use. Copyright today has little relevance to intellectual property since the prime beneficiaries are not the artists or creators. That being said 'Wikicommons' has the right to behave 'stupidly' but what are they really afraid of. Copyright enforcement is really complicated ... 1 - a copyright which is valid must first exist ... 2 - even with modern stuff a registration must be in place ... 3 - even with modern stuff a notice must be given to direct the removal of the offending materials ... 4 damage has to be shown and since no charge is made for my materials and I do not see the original creators or their families selling the stuff ... that will be hard to show ... 5 Let them try to sue me ... I will tie them up in court and force them to choke up tens of thousands of dollars for their wasted efforts. This is how they do it and I can do it even better since most of their attorneys are not the smartest in their class. Technology will soon make fools of such concepts and people in the future will wonder how today's humans devolved into such corrupt and incompetent organisms whose prime values focused on selfishness and greed. They may have the right to be selfish and greedy but the real creators just like real artists are less concerned with the profit motive and more concerned with the creation of new ideas and innovation. The recordings will never disappear since they will just be moved off-line and preserved for the enjoyment of future humans who will not have such a corrupt and self-centered ideology.